Onalaska, WI
July 26, 2008
report from Don
Thies (B Co, 2nd BN, 1970-1971)
My journey to Onalaska, Wisconsin in what we Wisconsinites
call "Gods Country" began very early on the morning
of July 26, 2008. I had made arrangements with Captain Chuck
Williams OIC of the detail assigned to assist the family
of 1st LT Nick Dewhirst to meet him at his hotel at approximately
0730 hours central standard time. For me the 2 & ½
hour drive that Saturday morning would be long but to me it was
an honor to represent the 506th Association at Nick's memorial
service.
Having received by Fed-X the new battle flag and several "Currahee
Crest" pins the day before when I came home from work, I
rose early and with items in hand headed out. Neither road detours
nor darkness could keep me from making Onalaska, WI by the appointed
time.
Arriving at the hotel, I gathered the items sent to me and
headed into the breakfast area to meet Captain Williams. As I
walked in I noticed an Army officer sitting at a table and immediately
went over and introduced myself. The reply I got was Captain
Williams will be right back and I'm Captain Matt Blackwell.
Captain Blackwell explained his connections with the 506th and
Nick. Shortly another officer appeared and Captain Williams introduced
himself. We returned to our seats and he started to outline the
timeline of events for the morning. He then brought out and showed
me the medals that he was presenting the family. They were a
Purple Heart, CIB and the Bronze Star. I then removed the flag
from the envelope and showed him the new battle flag and the
two pins that were sent. I mentioned that Nick had two brothers
and that I'd be short of pins for the entire family, but Captain
Williams mentioned that he had brought along another two pins.
Problem solved. Captain Williams then indicated that the battle
flags had just started to be shipped to Afghanistan two week
prior.
From there he instructed that we would leave the hotel, and
head to the church to meet with the family at about 8:15 AM.
The presentation of the medals and the 506th Association items
would be done in a small private area at the church before the
memorial service would begin. The flag and the two pins I had
would be presented to Susan Dewhirst, Nick's mom and dad and
the two pins he had would go to sons Chad and Chase.
We headed out and Captain Williams told me to follow him and
Captain Blackwell over to the church. Being familiar with the
area also helped as our drive went up along the Mississippi River
on our left. A person could understand why 1st LT Dewhirst loved
the out of doors just by looking at the beautiful scenery. Arriving
at the driveway to the church a sign at a local business expressed
condolences to the Dewhirst family. We parked our vehicles and
headed into the church. I asked Captain Williams if it would
be okay to take a photograph of the exterior of the church and
he was okay with that. I did this shortly after arriving and
before meeting the family.
Inside the First Evangelical Free Church Captain Williams
again met the family and friends. I noticed several tables with
items that reflected the life of 1st LT Nick Dewhirst off to
my left. I later visited all the tables and it reflected a life
of a person from a newborn through his current Army Career with
emphasis on West Point.
With family still gathering I slipped back outside the church.
I was intent on getting a photograph before the huge crowd would
be there. The Patriot riders had arrived and were starting to
form a flag draped isle for the family, friends and everyone
else who was attending the service to walk thorough. Each person
entering the church was given an American flag.
After taking several photographs, I put the camera away and
headed back into the church. Upon entering I found Captain Williams
who was talking with many family members and friends. He motioned
me over and we all went off into a corner of the church lobby.
With mom seated and family alongside, Captain Williams began
his presentation of the Purple Heart, CIB and Bronze Star to
Susan and Randy. Mom was very emotional and dad and sons comforted
her. After some moments Captain Williams spoke up and introduced
me to the family and explained that I was representing the veterans
of the 506th Association and that I had several items to present.
I removed the flag from my suit coat pocket and I stated "with
the 506th deepest condolences" I presented the flag to Susan.
I stated that this new battle flag had just started to be shipped
to the troops and that even I hadn't seen it. Captain Williams
spoke up and mentioned that they had just started to ship the
flags out a couple of weeks ago. I next gave the two crest pins
I had to Susan and Randy. Captain Williams gave me the two pins
he brought and I gave them to Nick's brothers Chad and Chase.
The family immediately put them on their lapels.
Susan asked that since even I had not seen the flag that could
we unfurl it for everyone to see. Captain Williams came forward,
pick up the flag from the family and between the two of us we
carefully unfolded the flag. Mom came forward, pick up the bottom
of the flag and looked so lovingly on it. Dad and sons soon followed.
I expressed our association condolences and told the family that
they were forever a part of our family of veterans and that their
son would not be forgotten. They in turned "thanked all
the veterans and everyone".
With the presentation ceremony concluded the flags and medals
were taken over to the tables and placed so others could view
them. The flag was kept unfurled for all to see.
As the memorial service time of 1000 hours approached, the
church was filling up. I took a seat and watched as more and
more people came in. Two huge video screens continued to play
images of 1st LT Dewhirst. The images were from an infant up
to the present. His love of family, sky diving, water and the
outdoors was very evident.
At 1000 hours the service began. The family came in and took
their seats up front. Presentation of the colors was conducted
by members (Vern Reekers, Rich Musolf, Tom Puent, & Rich
Hoeth) of Legion Post 336, Onalaska, Wisconsin. Vern was the
Honor guard service officer.
Bruce Kallies, Pastor of the Rochester Assembly of God Church
who was Nick's brothers Pastor opened the service. After a very
moving tribute to Nick by Pastor Kallies he introduced the next
speaker Rob Lee.
Rob Lee was Nick's former Boy Scout troop 48 Leader. Rob mentioned
that Nick always obeyed the scout oath religiously. He mentioned
one moment when the troop was scuba diving on a ship wreck in
Lake Superior. It was a wreck frequently used by divers to view
as it was very easy to get to and presented no real dangers.
As Nick descended that day he stopped short of going into the
wreck. Upon back on the boat Rob asked Nick what was wrong. Nick's
reply was "my mom asked me to never go inside any sunken
ships". Rob continued and mentioned that Nick wasn't accepted
to West Point his senior year in High School. Devastated by that,
Nick didn't give up. He enrolled at a college and joined the
ROTC program and reapplied to West Point. This time he was accepted.
Nick and his college friends lived life to the fullest. They
looked for every possible challenging elite army schools to attend.
Nick mastered them all.
The next speaker was 1st LT Phil Castaneda, roommate and friend
of Nick's. He spoke of how Nick was always helping others. Nick
always seemed to be the leader of the pack. When someone had
study issues or slowed down in an exercise, Nick always seemed
to be able to motivate them to continue or do better.
The next speaker wasn't on the program. John Ressler who's
son Mike was Nick's roommate at West Point was introduced. He
read a letter from Mike who was currently stationed in Iraq and
couldn't attend.
Captain Williams, OIC spoke next. He too spoke of how Nick
although an officer was one of the guys in his unit and very
well received by all due to his leadership and personality style.
The command of D Company would have been just a step in a very
bright future.
The next speaker was younger brother Chad. He mentioned that
Nick was always active and never could sit still. He related
to an incident where he came home from school exhausted one day
to crash on the couch in the family room when all of a sudden
out of the wall came Nick. The family room was been made over
and only consisted of studs at the time. Chad was scared to death,
but it turned funny when Brother Nick got stuck in-between the
studs. Another incident was when Nick put Chad in a head lock
and told him "now this is how I would dispatch the enemy".
Chad's reply "hey it is only me here".
Brother Chase came next. He related to Nick's passion of jumping
out of airplanes and for that matter anything else that was high
enough to parachute off of. A slide show showed Nick's love of
sky diving. From planes, canyon rims, buildings, TV towers, Nick
did it all.
Chase concluded that he was really disappointed that Brother
Nick never got to meet his new born son. But, on Tuesday of this
week his young infant son was sitting in his high chair, when
he burst into this big huge smile. As he and his wife turned
to look at his son's smile, the grin got even bigger. It was
as if he could sense someone who couldn't be seen.
Chaplain LTC James Brown concluded the service with passionate
remarks.
The honor guard then retired the colors. The family exited
immediately afterwards and the church slowly filed out.
A brief luncheon was held at the Legion hall. I met another
of Nick's West Point buddies (1st LT Pratt) who had flown in
from Colorado Springs for the service.
As the luncheon broke up we all started to head our own way,
heart heavy with sadness but with knowledge that the family of
1st LT Nick Dewhirst was well taken care of by all parties and
the healing process could now begin.
In all there were 2 captains (Williams & Blackwell), 2
LTC (LTC James Brown, Chaplain and LTC Elaine McGarry, Casualty
Assistance Officer) and two 1st LT (Cataneda & Pratt) at
the service. It was a very moving service for all who attended.
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